Phayao Tragedy?

[klikster]

Wife just called me in to look at a Thai news report of old farang in Phayao who burned down his own house. I got into the room too late to see what the man looked like. Apparently he also shot and killed the Orbator who was trying to put out the fire. Police were inspecting what appeared to be a 'shotgun' pistol, looked to be a 12 ga.

I'm sure more details will emerge.

[ripstanley]

The man arrested is reported to be an 85 year old Australian.. I also started a thread on this. House is 5km from mine. Did not know him.

[villagefarang]

The man arrested is reported to be an 85 year old Australian.. I also started a thread on this. House is 5km from mine. Did not know him.

Makes one wonder how many foreigners might be living within five kilometers of us. People we perhaps never see or never meet and only read about when things go pear-shaped.

[ripstanley]

I would drive past the house every day at least twice and maybe more. I never new a fellow Australian lived there. Maybe he did not want to be noticed. Now his picture is on Thai TV. Apparently he told the police he had the right to burn down his house. The fire did little damage. That what it looks from the outside.

[katana]

Apparently the 85-year-old Australian, Richard Jackson Kennedy, had argued with his Thai wife who had left him a few days earlier. She refused to return while she tended to her father in hospital.

The paper said he became crazed slashing his own wrists with a knife and setting fire to the house. When neighbours tried to enter the premises to extinguish the fire he held them back at knifepoint. One of the neighbours was president of the the local Tambon Administration Organisation who ended up getting shot by the elderly farang. He was taken to hospital but died.

http://www.thairath....t/region/269219

[chang35baht]

Apparently the 85-year-old Australian, Richard Jackson Kennedy, had argued with his Thai wife who had left him a few days earlier. She refused to return while she tended to her father in hospital.

The paper said he became crazed slashing his own wrists with a knife and setting fire to the house. When neighbours tried to enter the premises to extinguish the fire he held them back at knifepoint. One of the neighbours was president of the the local Tambon Administration Organisation who ended up getting shot by the elderly farang. He was taken to hospital but died.

http://www.thairath....t/region/269219

From what I could manage to understand from the news this morning(my Thai is way from perfect). In an attempt to stop the Aussie from burning down his house, the Poo Yai Bahn shot the Or Bor Tor by accident when he tried to shoot in the air with his shotgun pistol.

Racked with guilt, he then hung himself.

A real tragedy indeed.

C35B.

[villagefarang]

I was wondering where that gun came from and why he hadn’t used it earlier if it belonged to him. If this story is true, it would be a classic. If they blame him for the shooting, it would be priceless. One wonders at his age whether he might have a touch of dementia as well, further complicating where things go from here.

[sceadugenga]

Definitely worth getting a coffee and finding a comfortable chair with a good vantage point.

[jubby]

Well its a relief that the poor Old Guy didn't do the actual shooting. Could have created quite a bit of xenophobia in Phayao.

I'm sure he's not the first Farang to try to burn down his house over here for whatever reasons .

[mistephenso]

Apparently the 85-year-old Australian, Richard Jackson Kennedy, had argued with his Thai wife who had left him a few days earlier. She refused to return while she tended to her father in hospital.

The paper said he became crazed slashing his own wrists with a knife and setting fire to the house. When neighbours tried to enter the premises to extinguish the fire he held them back at knifepoint. One of the neighbours was president of the the local Tambon Administration Organisation who ended up getting shot by the elderly farang. He was taken to hospital but died.

http://www.thairath....t/region/269219

From what I could manage to understand from the news this morning(my Thai is way from perfect). In an attempt to stop the Aussie from burning down his house, the Poo Yai Bahn shot the Or Bor Tor by accident when he tried to shoot in the air with his shotgun pistol.

Racked with guilt, he then hung himself.

A real tragedy indeed.

C35B.

The guy who got shot was my next-door neighbour's boss - he was the Na Yok of the Mae Sai district Obor Dor. I'd met him a few times here and he was a really nice guy! It is definitely a real tragedy...

The news reports are incorrect as well. The Australian guy didn't do the shooting by all accounts, as he was being restrained (to try and stop him burning even more of his house) by people when the gun went off - the police are still investigating whether it was the Poo Yai Bahn who accidentally shot the Na Yok, or whether the gun was dropped and went off...??

And no-one hanged themselves either, so I'm not sure where they are getting that from?

All this from an argument with his wife...

[katana]

Yes, there seem to be conflicting stories in the press.

Thairath, Khaosod and region3.prd.go.th report it was Kennedy who did the shooting.

Nationchannel say the same, however they quote Kennedy as denying he shot anyone:

"I didn't shoot Chartee, I'm a foreigner who can't speak Thai. Where would I get a gun from?"

Nationchannel also give his nationality as American, rather than Australian.

http://blog.banlukra...de;-ยิ.html (source Thairath)

http://breakingnews....p?newsid=637559

http://region3.prd.g...ID=120618141734

http://www.khaosod.c...9PQ==&subcatid=

There's also no mention of any hanging.

[ripstanley]

From what the locals are saying that the gun was taken to the property. The Australian did not have the gun. They say it was an accident.

[ripstanley]

The gun was carried to the property by the boss ( headman ) of the village where the shooting occurred. Very tragic accident.

[maidu]

bizarre and sad.

[kartman]

So the gun was taken there to shoot the Australian?.

[cheeryble]

Did any more info come out on this extraordinarily sad case?

Edited June 23, 2012 by cheeryble

[ripstanley]

Did any more info come out on this extraordinarily sad case?

The funeral for the man killed was held today. There is still police tape around the gate of the house where the man was killed. Have not heard any more about the Australian held.I have not seen any activity at the house since the day after the death.

[katana]

From what I could manage to understand from the news this morning(my Thai is way from perfect). In an attempt to stop the Aussie from burning down his house, the Poo Yai Bahn shot the Or Bor Tor by accident when he tried to shoot in the air with his shotgun pistol.

Racked with guilt, he then hung himself.

A real tragedy indeed.

C35B.

Khaosod (22/06/12) seems to confirm chang35baht's info:

The president of the the local Tambon Administration Organisation, Mr Chartree and Mr Udom, the local Phooyaiban, were in the house negotiating with Kennedy. Officials cut off the electricity in the house as a precaution before the fireman entered to extinguish the blaze. However in the ensuing darkness a shot rang out and Chartee was shot and fatally injured. The police initially assumed it was Kennedy who had shot Chartee. However the next day, Mr Udom was found hanging by his neck from a rain tree in a local rice field.

Police believe that the sudden plunging of the house into darkness startled Udom and caused him to accidently discharge his gun killing Chartree. The ensuing guilt over what he done led to him taking his life and coincided with confirmation that the gun found at the house was Udom's and not Kennedy's.

http://www.khaosod.c...PQ==&sectionid= (22/06/12)

Edited June 23, 2012 by katana

[cheeryble]

If this is all true it is a terrible example of how unhealthy and unbalanced thinking patterns by two people have lost or ruined three lives. Quel domage.....